I give you Gunnar the Red…

January 4, 2011

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He faces a future of cold uncertainty, until her warm embrace…

Part of a Viking crew of warriors cursed by an evil sorceress, Gunnar the Red must toil through eternity as half-man, half-beast, living out his days as a great bull, while his nights are spent in human form. And though he keeps mostly to the wilds, his heart yearns for the simple comforts of man—and the chance to redeem a tragic past…

Seeking refuge from a bitter winter in the welcoming hall of Richmond Castle, Gunnar rescues two maidens when a blaze erupts—and his destiny is forever altered. For one of the young women is Lady Eleanor de Neville, who is immediately entranced by her rescuer. Her kiss of gratitude—the brief touch of her lips against his cheek—awakens a longing in her soul. And even when she is betrothed to another, Eleanor never forgets her courageous knight.

When Gunnar rides back into Eleanor’s life, she is consumed by undeniable passion. And though his body surrenders to her every touch, Gunnar’s heart remains imprisoned by the curse—and only the magic of the truest love can save him…

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Or does he see you?

Looks like the winner was Gunnar’s eyes. Or rather, eye. One really intense eye…

Yes, he has both. Just not here.

On the other hand, several people wanted a peek at that little Y of hip/6-pack, so check it out after the jump and let me know what you think in comments.  (And be sure to come back tomorrow for the whole delicious package.) Read the rest of this entry »

Hello?  <jumps at echo> Anyone here? <looks around>

Well, I understand if you wandered off. After all, I haven’t shown up here since, well, since forever.

But that’s because I have been showing up where it really counts—at my desk. I’ve been writing like a madwoman and (ta-dah!) IMMORTAL CHAMPION is  finished. Yep, Gunnar has his story at last — thanks to four all-nighters in the last 9 days of work, two of them *during* the RWA National Conference. (And I’ll take this opportunity to apologize again to Barb Samuels for dozing off during her workshop…)

But the work paid off, my editor loves it (says the characters are “fabulous” and “so romantic”), the book is in production, and I’ve now recovered enough to start the next book (Torvald’s story, if you’re curious).

Oh, and I got the cover.  Oh my, the cover. It’s…amazing. In the same vein as the others, but a little different. A little sharper. A lot hotter. I keep hoping somehow it will come out in full 3D so Gunnar will be touchable.

Come back tomorrow for a teaser.  In fact, I’ll let you choose…

Do you want the curve of brawny arm and shoulder, a glimpse of his incredibly intense stare, or a snip above his belt, where his hipbone meets his six-pack in an enchanting little Y of rippling muscle? (Answer in Comments)

I apologize for being so delinquent about posting here. I have an excuse that’s both good and bad.

The good part:  I’m writing my brains out on the third Immortal Brotherhood book, IMMORTAL CHAMPION, which will be hitting the shelves in January 2011. It’s the story of Gunnar the Red, who was briefly mentioned in Immortal Outlaw.

The bad part:  I’m overdue getting the manuscript in. I got way behind last fall when the whole family fell victim to H1N1 and haven’t every managed to catch up. That’s bad news, because I have the fourth book due soon too.  That’s really why I haven’t been posting here, because I have trouble justifying time spent blogging when I need to be doing my paid writing.

To help make it up to you and tide you over, here are a couple of pics of the lovely Steven Waddington, my major model for Gunnar.

I am closing in on the final chapters, so I’ll be back here on a more regular basis soon.

Hang in there, Viking lovers.

As you know (or should, as much as I’ve been talking about it <g>), IMMORTAL OUTLAW is a finalist for the 2009 RT Reviewers Choice Award for “Best Historical Vampire/Werewolf/Shapeshifter Romance.”  Other finalists in that category include THE TREASURE KEEPER (Shana Abé), LORD OF LEGENDS (Susan Krinard), SO STILL THE NIGHT (Kim Lenox), and NIGHT AFTER NIGHT (Kathryn Smith). I feel honored to be in the company of such grand, talented women.

I’d love to list all the other categories and nominees, but it would take me all day to type them up. Fortunately, there’s a pdf:  RIGHT HERE.  Pay especial attention to the Career Achievement Award nominees; they’re some of the best and brightest in the romance game.

Congratulations to all my fellow nominees.

Catching up on a few random items:

If an e-reader comes your way for Christmas, Hannukah, or Kwanzaa, please keep in mind that both IMMORTAL WARRIOR and IMMORTAL OUTLAW are available as Kindle Editions on Amazon.com, and in other digital formats at Barnes & Noble.com (Please note: I am NOT the Lisa Hendrix Simmons whose self-published books turn up under my name at B&N. I’m not making any comment good or bad about her books, I’m just not her.)

Also, a reminder: my Virtual Booksigning is still in full swing. If you get or give  IMMORTAL WARRIOR and/or IMMORTAL OUTLAW, you can have them autographed long distance by sending for my custom  bookplates.  Follow the link to find out how. (You’ll also get bookmarks and a recipe for a delicious herb bread.) If you get them as e-books, you can have a bookplate anyway or I’ll be glad to sign a bookmark with my sparkly bronze marker. You still get the recipe. <g>

I’ve been having a lot of fun on Twitter and Facebook recently. Too much, in fact, so I’m going to have to be good for the next few weeks while I finish writing IMMORTAL CHAMPION. But I’d love it if you’d go ahead and follow/fan me so you’ll be ready when the party starts again after I finish.

Finally, I have a new guest post up at 1st Turning Point, a relatively new but excellent website for writers. After you’re done here, pop on over to read The World’s Cheapest Promo, then explore 1st Turning Point’s other articles, listed under Resources in their masthead.

More later. Jingle-jingle.

A magical lovers’ bower hidden with the hollow formed by a cluster of young oaks grown together around the mother stump—sounds like a lovely figment of my imagination, doesn’t it?

But it isn’t.  Well, mostly not, anyway.

In the tiny surviving remnant of Sherwood Forest stands a tree as old as the Robin Hood legend itself, the Major Oak. At approximately 800-1000 years of age, and with a girth of some 33 feet around a hollow center, it has long been believed to be the tree in which Robin and all his Merry Men hid from the Sheriff of Nottingham.  The Major Oak has an odd, twisted shape that some say comes from it being a fusion of several trees. The interior of the tree isn’t as open as I described, but the tree is 700+ years older, too; the trees would be much thicker now. The one thing I totally fudged was the floor inside the hollow. In reality, it’s  lumpy and hard and would be a pretty uncomfortable place to make love. Fortunately, I write fiction.

The image to the left is a drawing of the oak made in approximately 1790 by Major Hayman Rooke, after whom the oak was named (before Maj. Rooke came along, it was called the Cockpen Oak because it was used to hold caged fighting cocks).  There’s a great collection of photos of the oak  HERE, including one with the support struts removed digitally, so you can see its true grandeur

And thanks to the BBC, you can enjoy a real treat:  a 360º tour of the inside of the Major Oak!   (While you’re there, check out the “Hide in Sherwood Forest” link just below the tour to see an example of the thick ferns that Marian and Robin hid in at the very beginning of Chaper 1.)

QUESTION:  HAVE YOU EVER FOUND A MAGICAL PLACE IN THE WOODS? SHARE A LITTLE PIECE OF THE MAGIC IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.

You’ve seen him in his beast form.

Now have a peek at my human inspiration for Gunnar the Red:

That’s English actor Steven Waddington.  You may know him as Maj. Duncan Heyward in LAST OF THE MOHICANS, or, more recently, as Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, from THE TUDORS.  If you want more, more, more, of the delicious Steven, there are a whole herd of  pix of him at Flixster.

And now you know why I’m smiling so much while I write IMMORTAL CHAMPION…

Sudwell, known today as Southwell, lies about 14 miles northeast of Nottingham City and 3 miles northwest of the River Trent. It’s an ancient place, apparently dating back at least to the Roman era; luxurious villa was found under the churchyard in the late 50s, a mural from which is on display in the Minster, and other traces of Roman roads and brickwork have been found in the area.

An early church was founded at Sudwell around 628 AD, when Paulinus of York (left) visited the area after baptizing a number of converts in the nearby Trent. Land for a larger church was given to the Archbishop of York (Oskytel) in 956, and construction began in 1108.  The next year, then Archbishop Thomas I  asked each parish in Nottinghamshire to contribute to the building of a new Mother church, The Church of St. Mary Southwell.

Thus began the Southwell Gate, held yearly at Whitsuntide (7th Sunday after Easter). As Marian explains to Steinarr in Chapter 10, in those days, the Mayor of Nottingham and a representative from each parish would carry their pence to the Minster in a grand procession. Dressed in their finest robes, the officials met at the Old Market Square in Nottingham City and proceeded on foot and horseback the 14 miles to the north porch of the Minster, where the funds were received by the chapter clerk. Clergy and lay folk would accompany the procession, combining a pilgrimage with an excursion to Southwell’s famous Whitsun Fair. The term Gate comes from the old Norse word gata, meaning street or way—which explains why Steinarr Read the rest of this entry »

Amidst all the illness of the last two months, I had three pieces of good news:

First, of course, was the contract for the next two books.

Second, came word that IMMORTAL OUTLAW had been selected for Amazon’s Top 10 Best in Romance for 2009.  Yep, really. It’s right there on the top of the Browse Romance page, alongside books by writers like Susan Wiggs, Nalini Singh, and Sheila Roberts. This is an Editors Choice award, so it makes me especially happy. Not that it wouldn’t be nice to make the bestseller list next time <g>.

And third, I just found out last week that IMMORTAL OUTLAW is a finalist for the 2009 RT Bookreviews Reviewers Choice Award for “Best Historical Vampire/Werewolf/Shapeshifter Romance.” Counting the Top Pick rating from RT and Steinarr’s K.I.S.S. Award, that makes four significant honors for my Outlaw. There’s clearly something about that Robin Hood legend…

Anyway, that’s the news for now. Tomorrow, we’ll be back on the trail of Marian and Steinarr, stopping at the Southwell Minster.